The adsorption kinetics of octadecanethiol (ODT) and p-nitrobenzenethiol (NBT) from ethanol solutions has been studied by means of contact angle, optical ellipsometry, angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS), and grazing angle attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements. ODT data were used as a reference for the kinetics studies of film growth. The growth of self-assembled monolayers from dilute solutions follows Langmuir isotherm adsorption kinetics. A saturated film is formed within 5 h after immersion in solutions of concentrations ranging from 0.0005 to 0.01 mM. The density of the monolayer depends on the concentration of the solution.